I love Middle Eastern and North African food (related but distinct)Never tried making shawarma at home, the charring you get in a restaurants with the special grill is essential isn't it?I make a lot of Middle Eastern food, and like serving meze style. If you can get actual flatbreads rather than pitta pockets, they are better the brand I get here are labelled Durum (Turkish) and Lavash (Armenian, Iranian) and Tortilla which is comprehensive but they should be thinner than the usual flour tortilla

I was looking on line for a good recipe for lamb kofte, which are something I've been meaning to make fora whike. Felicity Cloake goes into the variations very well but her final recipe is an abomination IMO, shouldn't contain mint or pine nuts, must contain cumin for me. At least she doesn't add egg (a complete no-no)https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jul/03/how-to-make-perfect-kofteI think good butcher's mince is fineI chop parsley and onion (separately) in the processor, put them back in with mince, salt and baharat spices and pulse very briefly until it forms a mix you can shape into fingers or burgersBharat means Indian spice and is a mix of black peppercorns, [toasted] coriander, [toasted] cumin, allspice, sweet paprika, green cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon, nutmegYou can make up your own mix (every cook and every stall has their own secret)

What I wish they would give in these features is suggestions for constructing a meal around such dishes. It's one of the things I love Marcella Hazan's Italian recipe books for ... the suggested accompaniments and other courses which follow each recipe.

I don't eat out enough at Middle Eastern restaurants to get a real feel for natural combinations.

I think just about any Middle Eastern dish can be served successfully in a Mezze but agree that sometimes it is a bit daunting to know what to choose from so many options. I love Middle Eastern cuisine - if you look at menus from Lebanese (for example) restaurants you get a feel of what might be served with what. For instance, this fairly basic chain - which I like - has certain types of thing for mezze and then meats and sides which could be replicated at home without too much trouble. https://www.comptoirlibanais.com/menu/bath/main/

Did you come with us to a meet with FCQ at the Lebanese restaurant in Oxford? You certainly get the best spread if there is a decent number of people!

The shawarma recipe looks good. I think that people like Claudia Roden and Yotam Ottolenghi have done so much to bring this style of cuisine into British provincial homes.

That’s how the Lifestyle pages on the Observer/Guardian work. They release features that have been in the printed editions throughout the week with the exception of Fridays when they pre publish a few in the hope you’ll buy the weekend newspapers.

If I ever have a paper, which is rare, it’s one I get free with my Waitrose shop.

When my Brother in Law roasts lamb, the leftovers are usually ground down and refried with various spices. He then makes flatbreads and his own hummus and tops the flatbreads with the hummus and ground lamb and some soured cream. The kids love it more than the roast itself. He often serves it with a lentil salad and a spicy beetroot salad

In case Kavey doesn't see this thread, this is very, very good https://www.kaveyeats.com/2011/04/persi ... icken.html . Tessa Kiros* (I think but I'm not sure) also does a similiar recipe where you bake a whole chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices in a rice crust. I can't find a recipe on-line but it's baked in a deep casserole lidded casserole and served from the dish. The crispy rice on the bottom/sides is

Catherine wrote:When my Brother in Law roasts lamb, the leftovers are usually ground down and refried with various spices. He then makes flatbreads and his own hummus and tops the flatbreads with the hummus and ground lamb and some soured cream. The kids love it more than the roast itself. He often serves it with a lentil salad and a spicy beetroot salad

I love home made hummus and some bought ones, usually the more 'interesting' ones ... I find that the flavour of most bog-standard supermarket hummus loses its attraction after the first few mouthfuls.

Most bought hummus is too acidic (probably to stop it going off) and contains very little tahini, as that's the expensive bit, or that's my take Having eaten homemade hummus that resembles grits in oil and lemon though, at least they get the texture right!

I'm in no position to comment upon other people, but in this house 'a mouthful' is considered a reasonably large volume..

We quite like the caramelised hummus available in most supermarkets; some find it too sweet. I make my own hummus, but a tin of chickpeas with a commensurate amount of tahini produces rather a lot of mouthfuls, so I generally save it for when we have got visitors.

I'll have to look out for those. I have always tended to cook pulses from dry; it seems a faff to do that in tiny amounts and tinned is a convenience I've come to lately. Obviously half a tin of chickpeas doesn't take up much space, but at the moment I'm having to think about what I can take out of the freezer in order to get anything in it. It's a remarkable item, inherited over 27 years ago, still running. It's bound to pack up one day , am planning its successor. Not sure I'd keep ready-made hummus in a freezer as it's not reheated after defrosting, but only because of Mrs B's immunosuppression.

i don't use a recipe any more, the original i used came from the little brown bean book before tinned chickpeas were available but the one sue posted looks pretty generic so i'd go with that. i usually use olive oil rather than vegetable oil to mix and remember, if it's too thick after you've whizzed it you can add more water rather than more oil. when you've finished making it do a taste test and and adjust the lemon juice/salt etc to make it how you prefer it (as usual).i sprinkle a touch of smoked paprika over it, sometimes, i rather like the contrasting flavour. (i would also put more lemon juice in than that recipe says).